The cat behind the hat: Dr. Seuss’ ‘secrets’ on display

Opening receptions from 5-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 7 p.m. presentation on both nights by Bill Dreyer, curator of the exhibition and of “The Art of Dr. Seuss” collection. RSVPs recommended by calling 770-993-4783.

NEED MORE SEUSS?

Aurora Theatre has one more scheduled performance of the stage version of "The Cat in the Hat" as part of its "Aurora Learning Library" theater series for children and students. 6 p.m. Feb. 10. Aurora Theatre, 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. 678-226-6222, www.auroratheatre.com.

His life seemed like an open book. A book overrun with unforgettable characters like the Cat in the Hat and irresistible wordplay about hopping on pop and liking green eggs and ham (or not).

Yet for the nearly 60 years that Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka “Dr. Seuss,” wrote and illustrated classic children’s books, he led a double life.

He was a hat man. Big time.

“Ted was quoted as saying he had 500 hats,” said Bill Dreyer, the curator of “Hats Off to Dr. Seuss!,” a national touring exhibition that makes its only Georgia stop at the Ann Jackson Gallery in Roswell starting Friday night. When Audrey Geisel showed him her late husband’s hidden hat “closet” in the library of their La Jolla, Calif., home, Dreyer recalled, “She hit one of the (bookshelves) like in a James Bond movie. A door opens up and on both sides, floor to ceiling, (there) are hanging hats.”

That’s not all he kept hidden from view. Geisel, who died in 1991, was also a surreptitious “serious” artist. Nearly every night, he’d leave behind the whimsical Loraxes, Sneetches et al. associated with his day job and paint purely for himself. The resulting art wasn’t exactly the child’s play illustration of his books; yet, Dreyer enthused, it’s “so Seussian in its sensibility.”

More than two dozen of Geisel’s beloved hats, venturing outside his home for the first time, take center stage in the exhibition. Just as intriguingly, some of the so-called “Secret Art” collection — authorized limited edition reproductions of about 50 Geisel paintings, as well as some drawings and sculpture — also will be shown, with many offered for sale.

“People will come in because they love Dr. Seuss,” Dreyer predicted. “But they’re going to learn an aspect of his career they’re not aware of. It is going to delight them beyond their wildest expectations.”

With apologies to the author, here’s our own “Seussian in its sensibility” take on the exhibition:

And to Think That You’ll See It on Canton Street …

The Ann Jackson Gallery is arguably the ideal setting for a Dr. Seuss exhibition. The first Dr. Seuss book, "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street," was rejected 27 times before landing a publisher in 1937. Since then, the 44 Seuss books have sold more than half a billion copies.

Likewise the gallery had humble beginnings — “It was a little mom and pop shop” when it first opened on Canton Street in 1971, said Mary Wheeless, a daughter of the gallery’s namesake founder. It now carries works by nationally and internationally known artists, as well as providing art restoration and consulting services. One of only 30 galleries in the world licensed to represent the art of Dr. Seuss, it’s acquired more than 40 of his pieces for its own collection over the years. Some also will be on display during this exhibition.

“You’ll never see so many in one location,” Wheeless promised.

Every Swell Down in Roswell likes Seuss books a lot …

Clearly, "Hats Off" patrons love Seuss in the same way the Who's down in Whoville liked Christmas: "A lot." But what of Geisel himself? Was he ever Grinch-like annoyed by his close identification with Dr. Seuss, afraid it would unfairly color views of his "secret" art?

Absolutely not, Dreyer says.

“He didn’t give a lick what anyone thought of his painting. He just loved doing it,” Dreyer said.

At the same time, Geisel was protective of Dr. Seuss’ image and his importance, particularly to young readers.

“There’s a witty, whimsical quality that’s unique to him, and in many cases, (the secret art) is the more adult version of this,” said Dreyer, citing “The Cat From the Wrong Side of the Tracks,” a painting of a pool-playing, cigarette-smoking feline who could be the Cat in the Hat’s dissolute cousin. “Once he realized who he’d become as the world’s best children’s book author, I think he wanted to separate out this wonderful adult sense of humor and not conflict with Dr. Seuss and the persona he’d become.”

One Hat, Two Hats, Red (-and-White Striped) Hat, Blue Hat …

Geisel's collection currently numbers 158 hats, which was narrowed down to a manageable 26 for the show. Some hats were too fragile to travel while others practically begged to be seen. Notably, the iconic "Cat in the Hat" hat, which Geisel may actually have acquired after the book's 1957 publication made him a star.

"The book became such a phenomenon, I think a friend made it for him," Dreyer said. While there's little documentation for Geisel's hats and much of his artwork, he explained, "We are able to find specific hats that have correlations with certain characters."

Several of those are prominently featured in “Hats Off to Dr. Seuss!”: a royal blue military cap that looks like a close relation to those worn in “The Butter Battle Book” (1984) and a Robin Hood-style cap that appears (and appears and appears!) in Seuss’ second book, “The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins” (1938).

It was to mark “Bartholomew’s” 75th anniversary that Audrey Geisel gave the OK for the hats to travel around the country in a specially retrofitted old-fashioned steamer trunk. There are also two iPads where patrons can view photos of all 158 hats, Dr. Seuss wearing hats and even the location of the famed hat closet itself.

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored, there are … hats to be worn?

OK, so the word “hats” doesn’t actually appear in “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” (1990), the last Dr. Seuss book published before Geisel’s death. But they’re there in spirit. Every stanza of the text (which frequently turns up in graduation speeches) is infused with an exhilarating sense of the endless possibilities within people and kindly encouragement to try new things. It’s the same qualities, one senses, the author saw in hats.

“I think he was aware of the inherent magic of a hat, and he was aware they were an accent and exclamation point on a person’s personality,” Dreyer said.

At home, Geisel got dinner party guests to open up by donning hats. And he sometimes called on hats’ “magical” powers on the job.

“He’d put them on himself and his editors late at night to try and break through creative blocks,” Dreyer said.

That Seussian spirit of "fun to be done" already has taken over the Ann Jackson Gallery, where so many people RSVP'd early for Saturday's originally scheduled opening night reception, the exhibition is starting one day early. Another reception has been added for Friday night. Dreyer will be at both.

Admission is free. But in a sense, Dr. Seuss will be manning the door:

“We want it to be fun,” Wheeless said. “We’re asking people to wear hats.”